Moore: EA Sports has "nothing going on" with 3D

Sony may be trying to force the 3D agenda with first-party PS3 titles and 3DTVs, but EA Sports president Peter Moore will not be following suit in 2010, his studio focusing instead on the new wave of motion-control devices.

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, Moore admitted he was keeping "a very close eye" on "the opportunities for sports" in 3D, but insisted the press and public would see "nothing at all" from the studio this year.

"No, no, no. I have a point of view and that's about as much as we have," said Moore, speaking in London yesterday at a FIFA event. "You've rightly pointed out that, from Howard Stringer down, Sony has made it a strategic imperative for the company. And when Sony does something of that nature then we as a company need to sit up and take notice.

"But believe me there's nothing going on right now that would say I'm ready to demo a 3D sports game. Nothing at all."

However, with motion-control coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 later this year, Moore revealed EA Sports would be throwing its weight behind both platforms.

He said: "We're getting in sync with Sony's motion controller and Project Natal with what Sony and Microsoft want to do with their publishing partners, so stay tuned for further information on that as we get closer to the date. And as you can imagine, EA being EA we're going to have our core intellectual property represented in some shape of fashion on those platforms.

Yet despite both the PlayStation controller – rumoured to be called Arc – and Project Natal both set to launch later this year, Moore refused to confirm EA Sports would support either launch window.

"Don't know. I do not know when they're launching. Certainly Sony has made no public pronouncement at all, and Microsoft has said 'holiday', which obviously gives fudge room, so stay tuned."

When it was pointed out that Sony had publicly committed to a 2010 release, Moore added: "Well, that helps! I know what their public pronouncements are and I know what we're working towards. We're also going to get in sync with their announcement strategy. If they hit this year then you'll hear something from us about what our plans are."

At yesterday's event, held at Stamford Bridge stadium, home to Chelsea FC, Moore also unveiled FIFA Online, a free-to-play PC title due to go into public beta this summer.

"We need to grow our business in a world where the core boxed goods business is not growing to the level all of us would want," he said. "But what is growing is the world of digital and if there are problems that we're solving with FIFA Online, it's accessibility, it's price, it's time consumption."